Title: Fish in a Tree
Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Genre: Middle Grade Realistic Fiction
Number of Pages: 288
Rating: B+
Recommended?: Yes
Ally Nickerson thinks she’s stupid and a disappointment to her family because of her undiagnosed dyslexia. She’s constantly getting in trouble at school while trying to hide the fact that she can’t read. She gets in hot water when she mistakenly buys a sympathy card for a teacher who’s about to give birth, with the other teachers thinking she had some kind of mean-spirited intent behind choosing that particular card.
Ally’s dad is in the military and she’s living with her mom and older brother Travis, who also has undiagnosed dyslexia. She’s bullied at school for being ‘dumb’ and two girls in particular make her life hell, but everything changes when she gets a new teacher, Mr. Daniels. He recognizes that she’s bright but struggling and takes a special interest in helping with reading. She befriends outspoken Keisha and Albert, a socially awkward brainiac who’s probably on the autism spectrum.
Fish in a Tree is a cute story about celebrating your differences, even when people don’t understand you. The title comes from the famous Einstein quote, which ties into unfair expectations of people with learning differences. Ally is a likable character and it’s satisfying to see her make friends and gain some self-worth for the first time in her life.
Sometimes Albert’s dialogue is a little ‘much’ (like a cliche of somebody with Asperger’s Syndrome characteristics,) but overall, I also enjoyed his and Keisha’s characters. I also want to mention how much I like Colin, the motormouth kid in Ally’s class who can turn any thought in his head into a never-ending tangent. He was also probably on the spectrum and/or ADD. When he got upset because a classmate was stepping on ants I knew he was a kindred spirit, or at least a kindred spirit to the kid I used to be.
He was probably my favorite character even though he didn’t play a major role and I’d love to read a book just about him. Overall, Ally’s family seems very supportive, even though I can’t figure out how nobody realized she was dyslexic. I guess it happens but how did the teachers in particular fail to notice she couldn’t read? She’s in sixth grade, not Kindergarten. Things could have been so much easier for her if people had paid a little more attention.
Sarah's Corner 